Uniaxial-stress Control of Magnetic Phase Transitions and Spontaneous Electric Polarization in a Frustrated Magnet CuFeO₂

Abstract

Frustrated magnets often display spin-lattice coupled exotic ordered states in order to lift the degeneracy of their ground states. This implies the possibility that the magnetic ordering in the frustrated magnets can be controlled by application of uniaxial stress, which directly and anisotropically affects the lattice degree of freedom. In the present study, we have performed neutron diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and pyroelectric measurements on a frustrated magnet CuFe_1-xGa_xO₂ (x = 0, 0.018, 0.035), which also exhibits spin-driven ferroelectricity, under applied uniaxial stress up to 100 MPa, revealing that the magnetic phase transitions and ferroelectric polarization significantly depend on applied uniaxial stress.